Pest Border University Testing

Pest Border University Testing

Pest Border Experiment Arizona State University Entomology Department Maricopa County

SCORPION AND PEST BORDER TESTING
Scorpion control prevention in phoenix. Home pest control
June 11, 2014

All of the scorpions were able to move along the Stucco but none went on the glass. They all repeatedly walked along the edge and felt the aluminum with their palps but never put a leg on the glass. They would group together in a corner and each scorpion would reach up and touch the aluminum with their palps and then would climb down and join the rest that were huddled in the corner. We placed scorpion twenty-four and five above the “Pest Border” to see if they would attempt to climb down but they would go onto the aluminum and stay there. We also placed some of the scorpions on the lip of the aluminum and they would freeze and did not move until they were picked up and placed on the sand again. Once placed on the sand they paced around the enclosure and would occasionally stop and group together before they began to pace around again.
Arizona Bark Scorpions moving along the “Pest Border”.

Arizona Bark Scorpions grouping together in a corner.

After an hour of being in the enclosure the scorpions began to group together in a corner. They were left in the enclosure overnight and then checked on the next day. After nineteen hours on the enclosure, the scorpions had grouped in a tight huddle on the opposite side of the enclosure from the previous day.

June 12, 2014
After testing to see whether the Bark Scorpions could climb up the “Pest Border” on their own, I set up another experiment which would test to see if when the scorpions were motivated to move to the stucco above the glass after being stimulated by triggers (light and heat) which are known to make them seek refuge in houses and other buildings. All five scorpions were randomly placed on the same side of the
enclosure, near the stucco wall. A light was then placed near the enclosure and directed at the scorpions. The light had four different settings, but to attempt to accurately recreate the harsh sunlight in Arizona during the summer (when most people find scorpions in their homes/businesses) the light was placed on the highest setting. Two
similar traps were placed at the top of the glass and provided cooler temperature and shade if the scorpions would climb the glass.

Glue in traps was removed to ensure the scorpions would not get trapped and once the scorpions were placed at the bottom the lights were turned on. As soon as the light was turned on the scorpions moved straight toward the wall where there was shade from the traps. Once the lights were angled to only provide shade from the traps is the scorpions attempted to move to the glass but would not go past the aluminum lip. In fact they began to group up and huddle together (a behavior often observed when a group of scorpions become stressed or disturbed) in a corner just under the aluminum lip. Every so often a scorpion would move up and touch its palps against the glass but would not go any further.

Bark scorpions moving together in a huddle against the corner.
Scorpion 15 (see below) was the only scorpion who made any attempt to climb the glass. 15 ran up the stucco, hesitated on the aluminum lip and then tried to run up the glass but slipped and fell into the sand after a few seconds of attempting to crawl up the glass.
After being unable to scale the wall, scorpion 15 curled under the lip.
After this experiment it was very apparent that Arizona Bark Scorpions are unable to climb up glass !